Editors' Note: This article is part of the Patheos Public Square on the Future of Faith in America: Evangelicalism. Read other perspectives here.

There are three possible futures for American Evangelicalism. These diverse destinies depend upon the moral, social, and theological convictions of the communities and leaders of the different streams. They also represent patterns found in three centuries of American Evangelical history.

American Evangelicalism has never been a uniform subculture. The term "Evangelical" denotes adherents of historic Christian faith within a Protestant ethos. Synthesizing the insights of historians George Marsden and Mark Noll, the Great Awakenings that gave shape to the evangelical ethos between 1730 and 1840 focused on five key attributes: 1) biblical authority and inspiration; 2) affirmation of historic creedal theology; 3) the necessity of personal conversion; 4) commitment to local and global evangelization/missions; and 5) integration of personal piety and public charity and engagement in making the world a better place. Yet there were diverse reactions to the Awakenings: 1) retrenchment and rejection of new experiences and ideas; 2) revision of the faith itself, including questioning cardinal doctrines; and 3) renewal leading to reform and revival of biblical faith.

The fundamentalist-modernist controversies of the early 20^th century further complicated matters for defining Evangelicalism. The retrenchment response was seen in the "fighting fundamentalists" rejection of the new National Association of Evangelicals, racial integration, and other "compromises." Revisionism was represented by liberal Protestants who continued to question evangelical theology and many of the conservative habits and social mores of conversion-centered evangelicals. Renewal was found in an evangelical willingness to embrace Pentecostals and Charismatics (albeit somewhat gradually) and global missionary expansion.

The tumult of the 1960s and 1970s further divided evangelical believers along sociopolitical lines, with Moral Majority conservatives opposing the initiatives of anti-war, anti-capitalist progressives, represented by groups such as Sojourners Fellowship. Once again there was retrenchment, revision, and renewal. Heirs of fundamentalism sought to reify a Christian America. Revisionists began talking about "Third Millennium Christianity" and questioned some long-held opinions. Renewal advocates embraced the Jesus Movement, Charismatic Renewal, Concerts of Prayer, and other revivals of piety from the late 1960s to the 1990s.

In the last two decades, Evangelical Christianity in America has been under assault, with recent Supreme Court decisions undermining some of the last vestiges of Christian civil influence. As of 2015, it is not an exaggeration to declare the end of Christendom in the U.S. and the cultural "exile" of devout Christians of all traditions. The fragmentation of Evangelicalism theologically and culturally continues, along with deep cries for spiritual renewal and unity.

So what are the possible futures for evangelicals? Distilling history and discerning hope, there are three major pathways that mark the future. These are not armed camps in opposition, but circles of conviction and praxis that are permeable and often intersect.